Practical Tips to Help Survive Self-Publishing from an Accidental Indie Author
Have you ever thought, “I know how I’ll change my life. I’ll publish a book on Amazon and watch the royalties roll in with the speed of a politician deleting their browser history”? If so, sit down and read on.
Because before you lovingly hurl your manuscript into Amazon’s great algorithmic abyss, there are a few sobering truths you deserve to hear. I learned them the way everyone learns in publishing: through hubris, formatting errors, and a level of emotional turmoil that Romantic poets like Wordsworth would write about, wandering about above places like Tintern Abbey.
The Glamour (Spoiler: There Isn’t Any)
If you’re at the stage where you’re figuring out how to self-publish a first book, you probably assume publishing is a glamorous affair. You write a novel, which (let’s face it) is pure brilliance. Someone applauds. (Maybe your mother?) A tasteful amount of champagne appears. Backs are slapped.
Self-publishing is, well, not that.
Self-publishing is more, “I made this boat out of cardboard, and if it doesn’t sink immediately, that counts as success.” Publishing a book on Amazon KDP teaches humility at industrial scale. It’s empowering, yes, but the only champagne that appears is the kind you buy yourself to drink alone in your dusty garret.
Self-publishing for beginners offers you a quick way to learn that the author life is less spotlight and fanfare, and more spreadsheets, metadata, and wrestling with the vast meaningless void of your life, while trying to phrase a book blurb that doesn’t make you sound either delusional or an emotional wreck
My First Brush With KDP Reality
When I first signed up for KDP, I thought: this seems easy enough. I clicked some buttons. I felt clever. Then I uploaded my book’s interior file. That’s when gremlins appeared. Mysterious blank pages, shifting margins, grotesque line breaks that felt personally insulting all stared back at me. Fix one problem, and two more would appear. Like frogs falling from the sky. Inexplicably and without cease.
When formatting was finally sorted, I spent the next three weeks refreshing my KDP dashboard so urgently that I’m fairly certain Amazon considered sending a wellness check. Reviews. None. Sales. None. Comments. None. I turned my laptop off and then on again. And still: zero. Nothing tests inner strength quite like refreshing a graph that refuses to slant upward.
Here’s an invaluable piece of self-publishing advice. The process, I discovered, is mostly waiting. Waiting and hoping. I wasn’t sure, maybe I’d missed the fun part.
So, here are ten things I wish I knew about how to publish your novel, things some sympathetic soul might have told me before I climbed onto this ride.
1. Amazon KDP is The Best Worst Idea You’ll Ever Love
Kindle Direct Publishing is Amazon’s print-on-demand marketplace where absolutely anyone can publish a book. That word “anyone” explains a great deal. Your book is only printed when someone orders it, which prevents you from filling your home with unsold paperbacks and using them as coasters. But it also means you are publishing into what can only be described as a literary mosh pit. Roughly four million books appear on KDP every year. I’m informed somewhat reliably that half of those are self-published. Visibility is neither guaranteed nor likely. Well, that’s not quite true. You’re visible. Among all the others. So, if you have elbows, now is the time to sharpen them.
2. Royalties That Sound Too Good to Be True
Traditional publishing usually offers royalties in the 10 to 15 percent range. KDP promises up to 70 percent, and yes, seventy is a thrilling number. You begin imagining swimming pools full of royalty payments. But the catch is simple. You actually need sales to enjoy those royalties. And sales require readers. And readers require marketing. And marketing requires emotional stamina and, occasionally, actual money. So the 70 percent is real, but so is the uphill climb toward earning it.
3. Print-On-Demand: Clever, Efficient, Slightly Underwhelming
Print-on-demand is wonderfully modern. Books appear only when someone wants them. Genius. But the printing options are not exactly artisanal. The paper is standard, the binding is basic. So, if you’ve set your heart on gold foil paper and Coptic Stitch Binding, you’re outta luck.
What you’re going to get is more “serviceable library paperback” than “collector’s edition luxe.” If you yearn for 60-pound, scented paper, manufactured from triple recycled materials, with special stamping and sprayed edges, you may need a traditional publisher. You’re better to try IngramSpark. With KDP it might be time to give up your fantasy life. Think practical family car, not Italian sports coupé.
4. KDP Is Free. Mostly Because Everything Else Isn’t
The actual publishing step costs nothing. Glorious. Of course, writing the book likely cost you sleep, free time, and any remaining patience for feedback that begins with “just a thought but…”
Editing costs money. Cover design costs money. Even marketing a book (tweets, ads, a website that doesn’t look like it escaped from 2009) costs money. By the time you press publish, your wallet probably looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. This is why KDP being free feels less like generosity and more like a paramedic arriving after the accident.
That self-publishing tip I can offer for free, however.
5. There Is No Secret Algorithm Code
There is no magic sequence of keywords. There is no moonlit ritual involving metadata and a goat. People succeed on KDP with a combination of a strong cover, visible genre conventions, careful editing, and a willingness to market their book long after their will to live has faltered.
The algorithm is not your friend. It is a feral animal. It rewards momentum and punishes neglect. It is not impressed by your emotional attachment to your art.
6. KDP Is Not a Mint
Even great books struggle for attention. The sobering truth is that most self-published titles sell fewer than one hundred copies. And yes, copies purchased by your mother definitely count toward that number. If you expect to hit “publish” and retire early, you may want to check yourself for signs of a concussion.
7. But Some People Do Make Real Money
Every so often, you encounter a writer who has cracked the code. They choose profitable niches. They write fast. They release books like they’re training for a marathon made entirely of deadlines. They treat KDP like a business rather than a creative daydream. And somehow they emerge triumphantly with consistent income.
It can be irritating, yes, but also inspiring. It proves success is possible, not guaranteed, but possible.
8. Quality Doesn’t Guarantee Survival
Brilliant books vanish into obscurity every single day, while novels with titles like Alpha Wolf Academy: The Wolfening sell thousands of copies before breakfast. The universe does not distribute attention based on literary merit. Visibility, timing, and luck (combined with persistence and a habit of rewriting your blurb eighteen times) matter just as much. Wrap your ego in protective padding and brace for impact.
9. KDP Can Still Lead You to the Big Five
Some people imagine self-publishing as the “bargain bin” of literature, but that perception is thoroughly outdated. Many authors begin on KDP, gain traction, and eventually sign deals with major publishers who then pretend they always believed in them. Your path doesn’t have to be linear. KDP can be a stepping-stone, a proving ground, or a permanent creative home. No gatekeepers. No permission slips. Just you.
10. You’re in Control. Which Is Terrifying
You make every decision (from pricing to cover art to what keywords you think strangers might type) while desperately searching for something to read. All the power is yours, and so is all the responsibility. It’s exhilarating, until the first typo is spotted by someone in a review who clearly enjoyed the opportunity far too much.
But this, ultimately, is the point. You chose creation over silence, action over waiting, and autonomy over approval. You traded approval for agency. It’s a brave thing, even when it feels foolish.
Final Thoughts from Someone Who’s Already Jumped
Amazon KDP is accessible, powerful, ruthless, and honest to the point of brutality. It will not flatter you. But it will let you publish a book. It will let you grow an audience. It will let you improve through trial and error. And the occasional traumatic meltdown.
If you want your story out in the world sooner rather than never, if you’re willing to work for visibility instead of permission, and if you can laugh at the absurdity of your own ambition… then KDP is one of the best tools available.
Welcome to self-publishing.
Keep your courage. Keep your humour. And keep the champagne chilled, just in case.
This essay is one of a collection of pieces documenting the bedlam involved in writing and self-publishing my ongoing genre fiction series: The Misjudgements of Andy MacKay, available on Amazon.